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from the prepping-for-the-next-gumball-rally dept.
An autonomous car developed by Michigan-based auto supplier Delphi Automotive ( http://www.delphi.com/delphi-drive ) will soon be making a 3,500-mile journey across the U.S. A person will sit behind the wheel at all times but won't touch it unless there's a situation the car can't handle. The car will mainly stick to highways.
Companies both inside and outside the auto industry are experimenting with technologies that take more and more responsibilities away from the driver—right up to the act of actually driving the car. Most experts say a true driverless vehicle is at least a decade away. Delphi plans to show off one of several versions of the car—an Audi Q5 crossover outfitted with laser sensors, radar and multiple cameras—on Saturday at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The official car will start its journey March 22 in San Francisco and arrive in New York a little more than a week later.The autonomous Audi warmed up for its long journey by racking up lots of miles tooling around Delphi's Silicon Valley office and taking a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Delphi showed off the car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January where, during a demonstration, the car braked by itself—just like it was supposed to—when two inebriated men fell into the street in front of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2015, @10:51AM
Being in an automobile is still one of the most dangerous activities ...
Citation needed. Driving is pretty darn safe. I looked up the US Govt stats (for a comment here a few weeks ago) and staying around the house is about as dangerous due to injuries from falling, etc.
If you use a little common sense, don't drive drunk/impaired (ie, texting), and stay off the road when conditions are bad (fog, ice) then driving gets even safer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Covalent on Tuesday March 17 2015, @02:25PM
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [cdc.gov]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf [cdc.gov] (see page 22)
In the main page, it says the #4 cause of death is accidents (130,557) surpassed only by Heart Disease, Cancer, and Chronic Respiratory diseases. About 30% of those accident deaths (37,938) are motor vehicle accidents, which if separated from accidents in general would be the #10 cause of death in the US.
Of the other top 9, 8 are diseases and 1 is suicide. The diseases are largely caused by poor diet, smoking, and viruses.
So, to sum up, THE most dangerous thing you can do is smoke (contributes to #1, #2, #3, #5), followed by eat a poor diet (contributes to #1, #2, #5, #7), just get really old (essentially all of the diseases are related with advanced age), be around people with the flu (#8), and then drive (#10).
Since I said "One of the most dangerous things...", I think I'm standing on pretty firm footing. I don't smoke, and I eat pretty healthy. I can't help but get old. So that leaves me with influenza and accidents as the two most likely causes of death in my short term future. I get a flu shot, but I can't help but drive...
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.